Salmonella Heidelberg infections climb to 129

Sept. 30, 2011
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by Meat&Poultry Staff

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ATLANTA – A total of 129 persons have now been infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Heidelberg which has been reported from 34 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Investigative efforts between state, local and federal public health and regulatory agencies indicate ground turkey is the likely source of this outbreak.

MEATPOULTRY.com recently reported that an Aug. 24 sample of ground turkey taken from Cargill Meat Solutions’ Springdale, Ark., turkey processing plant by the Food Safety and Inspection Service that tested positive for a strain of Salmonella Heidelberg, had recently been confirmed by FSIS as containing the Salmonella Heidelberg outbreak strain (XbaI PFGE pattern 58/BlnI pattern 76).

Cargill Value Added Meats Retail, a business unit of Wichita-based Cargill Meat Solutions Corporation, announced on Sept. 11 a second recall of ground turkey of approximately 185,000 lbs. of 85-percent-lean fresh ground turkey products produced at the company's Springdale, Ark., facility on Aug. 23, 24, 30 and 31 as a precautionary measure, due to possible contamination from Salmonella Heidelberg.

The company initially announced on Aug. 3 an immediate Class I voluntary recall of approximately 36 million lbs. of fresh and frozen ground turkey products produced at the same plant from Feb. 20, 2011, through Aug. 2, that may have been contaminated with a multi-drug resistant strain of Salmonella Heidelberg.

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